St. Petersburg - Into Russia

Welcome to Russia - St. Petersburg!

Finally, after our successful border crossing, we entered our 'primary' destination : Russia. Our first port-of-call is St. Petersburg. Founded by Peter the Great three hundred and four years and one week ago to be the new capital of Russia, St. Petersburg rose up from the marshes and quickly developed. The capital has been since moved back to Moscow, but St. Petersburg has continued to grow especially with additional attention as the hometown of President Putin.

The bus dropped us off on one of the long, wide streets, or "prospects". This particular one was Moscovsky Prospeckt, which was supposed to be near our hostel. Unfortunately, the prospeckt being a particularly long road, the Metro Tour hostel was actually a good way down. After digging around for a currency exchange open at 6am, dragging our backpacks into a small pharmacy for metro directions and some map reading, we rode the metro to Elecktrosila station.

Our hostel, the Metro-tour hostel was pleasant and clean enough. Our room wasn't quite ready and so we dropped our backpacks off and set off into the city. We didn't get too much done in the first day. We walked around the city center, admiring the beautiful cathedrals but not knowing their names or significance. We bought our train tickets (short line : long wait!) to our next destination, scoped out the central market which had a lot of fresh produce, went online at an internet cafe (48 rubles an hour), and discovered a large Carrefour-like supermarket near our hostel. We got a cheap dinner for ourselves there and went back to the hostel to eat our bread and canned fish before turning in early after an exhausting day.

The second day was rather more exciting. =) Once again waking up late, we then proceeded to rush to International Hostel to go on a 5 hour long walking tour of St. Petersburg. We managed to get ourselves lost several times on the way. Luke was constantly asking passers-by where the street was : unfortunately, there were three streets with the same name! We eventually found our way there in time and met our guide (Elena). After becoming 430 rubles lighter, we were off!

The tour was quite enjoyable and was better than I expected. We visited several spots throughout the city center, stopping every so often to allow our guide to give us a little information. Some notable spots included the office of the Temple Of Peace and Love or something like that, where Russia's greatest Beatles fan lives. On the walls of the courtyard outside his house were plaques of the faces of the four Beatles and a painting of a large yellow submarine. This fan intends to build a volcano-shaped Temple to the Beatles on the coast of Finland. Hmmm.

The tour also showed us several spots where local 'legends' had formed, such as a cat on a ledge, a bird on the side of a bridge and a large plaque that depicted a storm scene with a man trying to climb onto a boat. At all these spots, one was supposed to throw coins, or in the case of the man overboard, push him up, and - voíla! - your wish would be granted! Apparently these legends appear rapidly and frequently. Hmmm.

Other things we did on the tour included a revisiting of the central market, relaxing and chatting with other tour group members at a American Rock & Roll theme bar for lunch (hahaha!), learning a little about the history and significance of the Russian author Pushkin and, of course, walking. For four hours. Hmmm.

We then proceeded to the Nevsky Prospekt metro station to meet a contact that I found through the couchsurfing website (http://www.couchsurfing.com), a longtime resident and seasoned adventurer of St. Petersburg, Elena. After a rather awkward (on our side, anyway) initial greeting, we took a long walk in search of a cafe.

After some trouble, we managed to locate the particular cafe that was previously pointed out to us on the walking tour; apparently it was an 'underground' cafe. It turns out that the cafe was well above ground! It was located on a balcony halfway up one of the ubiquitous six story apartment buildings of St. Petersburg, right above the office of the Temple of Love etcetera etcetera. It was 'underground' because it used to serve the Russian cultural underground and still maintains the small, 'indie' feel. Enjoying a cool drink while chatting about our travels and St. Petersburg was excellent. We went around the table sharing about ourselves and Elena took her turn. She told us that she was a graduated a year ago and was working in a very new equity management industry in St. Petersburg, enjoyed meeting new friends from around the world, going to jazz clubs and 'roofing'. We looked quizzically at each other at the mention of this last hobby of hers. "Would you like to go and find a roof?", she said. Not knowing what we were getting ourselves into, we agreed. And thus we set out for Elena's 'favorite roof', our short rest at the cafe completely insufficient for the purpose of preparing us for what was coming up next.

Our quartet arrived at yet another old apartment building and Elena started to push at combination locks on entryways. We located one that surrendered to her gentle attacks, clambered up 6 storys of gloomy, urine-laced stairwell and were promptly met by an unyielding metal door and its friend, the unyielding metal lock. Sigh. Back down the stairs we went, and Elena quickly went in search for another entryway.

The next one was open as well and she told us to wait downstairs as she scouted ahead, or rather, above. The three of us shared increasingly questioning (and increasingly tired) glances as uncertainty about this whole affair mounted. A shout of "Come up!" from above startled us all, and since we were such obedient boys, we proceeded to do just that. A flight of stairs later, we faced an dark attic littered with construction debris, with a shaft of sunlight visible on the other end of the room. Manuvering across broken planks and bricks, we ducked through the little window into a new world that we will long remember : the world of roofing.

I emerged onto the roof of the building, six storys above the ground. Tin plates crackled beneath my feet as I balanced on the sloped roof. A very fragile, rusty looking, two-foot high railing lined the edge of the roof, the only safety measure against an accidental slip. Once I gathered the courage to tear my eyes away from my feet, I looked up and found that my breath had left me. For before me lay St. Petersburg in glory, as seen from a most unlikely vantage point : the roof of a dilapidated apartment building. The late afternoon sun cut across the sky, enveloping the city with a blanket of gold. Sharp, thin shadows hid the alleys in contrast with the brightly illuminated yet unseen rooftops of St. Petersburg. The city stretched out in all directions, the endless rows of apartments with antennas sprouting from their rooftops surrouding the domes of the cathedrals that brightly winked at us as Elena named them one by one. Elena grinned as the rest of us gaped. A quick briefing on roofing later (be careful!) we started moving across the roof. The apartment building was quite large but the roof was sloped and was built quite irregularly. This allowed us to move for quite a distance across the rooftop under Elena's guidance, avoiding cables and antennae while holding on to chimneys. Every step revealed more vantage points as I delighted in the amazing view and experience. We would stop and rest in the breeze while soaking in the view that surrounded us for a moment before continuing.

We spotted a group of people at the other end of the building and headed over to them "We can go down their exit!", exclaimed Elena). A few loose chimney bricks later, we met a group of youths dressed in the Goth style enjoying a bit of roofing as well. A quick exchange of Russian later, we dissapeared down another exit and emerged back at ground level once more.

Roofing in St. Petersburg was one of the most amazing experiences that I have ever had and even as I type this, I fondly recall the exhilaration I felt on that rooftop. Truly, it was an unexpected and completely "un-touristy" adventure. But the day was not done! More was yet to come.

We went off in search of Elena's favorite jazz club with as much haste as our tired legs could muster, for this club was purpoted to fill up by 8pm and the hour was quickly approaching. Unfortunately the club was quite far away, and as we approached the spot, Elena's friend contacted her on her mobile phone to inform her that there was no space left. Elena cheerfully shrugged and told us that she would take us to the "2nd favorite club", and brought us into a random sports bar for dinner.

The basement bar was filled with infantry gear and other war paraphernalia. Smoking men were watching a football (soccer) match between two Russian teams (the score was 3-0). We sat down in a corner and Elena gave our order to the proprietor, who appeared to be, interestingly enough, Chinese. Our meal was quite good and we started talking, through Elena, with the group sitting beside us. Before long, one of them decided that he would treat us all to a round of vodka in celebration of his football teams victory (the game ended 4-0). When the vodka shots arrived, I was quite astonished at the size of the shot glasses : they were at least 30% bigger than the ones I'd seen before and filled to the brim with pure Russian vodka. Some directions on Russian drinking were given : the vodka was traditionally chased with apple juice or beer (our host preferred beer...). Elena had began laughing and saying "You guys are crazy!" and I was beginning to have some doubts about my sanity as well. But, we couldn't very well offend our host's hospitality, could we? So, down the hatch!

It was definitely the smoothest vodka that I had taken and there was no burning sensation down the throat. The stories of the excellence of Russian vodka were unexaggerated. Luke was grinning happily. Our host, seeing how much we enjoyed the drinks, proceeded to call for another round. Oops. Elena said: "You guys are Really Crazy!". We survived the second round and our host's group and us left in search of a jazz club to relax in. Elena told us later that we had left quite an impression on the patrons of the bar. Thus was our first experience of the famed Russian hospitality.

Unfortunately the jazz club we went to was just finishing up its program and we bade farewell to our new friends, as much out of caution as weariness. Elena showed us back to our distant hostel and we rested there for a while. She wanted to take us to witness the raising of St. Petersburg's drawbridges under the white night, but we were tired as well as concerned about the hostel curfew and transportation after the Metro had closed. Elena had some words with the hostel receptionist who agreed to open the door for us after hours and told us to trust her for the rest. So, after a quick break, we set out once again at 11:45 pm.

We walked to a scenic spot along the river between two bridges and waited there for the bridges to rise. The sky was truly beautiful. It was glowing as if it were the last few minutes of sunset but the light was batrely changed even after half an hour. The horizon was lit with a brilliant orange light which faded to a pale blue above the treetops, silhouetting the cathedral domes across the river. There was a triple fountain on the river, lit by colourful lights and lasers, and the bridges were lined with white lights. There were even two small but excellent fireworks displays, probably to celebrate weddings. We waited there for a while, watching the tour boats on the river, laden with bridge watchers and admiring the breathtaking glow of St. Petersburg's white night. Soon, one of the bridges rose, and all the tour boats sailed up the river, herded along by a few police craft. It was quite amusing to see the hundred little boats sailing away in unison like a host of water skaters. Soon, a dark, unlit cargo ship came lumbering under the raised bridge after the tour boats had retreated. Elena told us that the cargo ship would be followed by many.

A rather high speed taxi ride later, we found ourselves back at hostel. The sky finally completely dark, we collapsed in our beds and remembered no more.

Our long day in St. Peterburg was truly enjoyable and we saw many things that we could never have otherwise have seen on the excellent walking tour. However, the greatest experiences of the day were discovered under the guidance of Elena. The adventure of roofing, enjoying Russian hospitality with a round (or two) of drinks, and sitting by the river under the glow of a St. Peterburg white night was amazing. We were very fortunate to have a friend like Elena here in the city... thanks so much, Elena!

On Sunday, we woke extremely late and proceeded to visit the Hermitage Museum, located within the Winter Palace. As students, we entered for free. It was a very good museum ; unfortunately, not many of its exhibits had English explainations or titles. One of the highlights of the museum for me was the huge Peacock clock. An elaborate gold structure of a tree branch with a peacock prominently perched on it along with other suitable botanial ornaments was apparently a clock! There was even a microphone to let everyone hear it ticking. I wasn't able to see it "in action", i.e. chiming the hour or anything like that, but it was still fascinating. After a few hours of wandering through the exhibit halls, we left just before it closed.

We met up with Elena again and she took us to her favorite student cafe, called Zoom Cafe. It was a low-ceilinged, well-appointed place that had an interesting menu, both in its presentation and its offerings. The cafe was well stocked with books and even delivered the bill within one! We said our farewells to Elena and returned to our hostel, but not before stopping by the supermarket to purchase our "St. Petersburg Farewell Dinner". We got some dumplings, crab sticks, eggs and some 'borrowed' vegetable stock from the hostel kitchen and boiled them together to create an interesting little soup that filled even the deep stomach of andrew. That was one filling meal. =)

Our final day in St. Petersburg arrived. We checked out of our hostel and stuffed our backpacks into lockers at the train station before heading over to The Cathedral of Spilled Blood. This cathedral houses a memorial to the spot where Peter the Great lay bleeding to death. It is beautifully and colourfully decorated outside by designs and coloured tiles, its golden domes catching the sunlight at the right angle. But within is hidden even more beauty. Every interior surface is covered with tile mosaics, forming images and stories from the Bible. The cathedral was recently restored after many years of misuse and disuse during the war and during the Soviet era. It has served as a vegetable warehouse and a large bomb had lain dormant in the central dome for several decades before restoration work discovered it. The intricate detail and planning exemplified by the tile mosaics was quite awe-inspiring.

After that, we waited an hour or more to buy our train tickets, with our poor ticket manager, Luke, suffering from the mysterious 10+ minute breaks that the ticket officers would take right as he reached the counter. We proceeded to the train station and boarded our train, #802. One week after departing from the US, we took our first 3 hour train ride to our next stop : Velikiy Novgorod.

-ky